"Girl Scouts and the Girl Scout Gold Award has Helped Me get to Where I am Today"

Emily Walters takes to the Girl Scouts of Colorado Blog to illustrate how the Girl Scout Gold Award helped her gain success in life. Walters recently worked on the GRAIL satellite project at Lockheed Martin. GRAIL (Gravity Recovery and Interior Laboratory) is a two satellite system that will orbit the moon to analyze the internal structure and lunar gravity. They are relatively small compared to other satellites, about the size of a washer and dryer, and launched toward the moon on September 8, 2011.

Walters was a part of the team that assembled the spacecraft, tested each component of the spacecraft as it was added, and tested the fully integrated system. Prior to the launch, she worked in Cape Canaveral, Florida to do final testing and integrate the GRAIL satellites to the rocket.

"In school and growing up, I was always interested in math and science," writes Walters. "When it was time to decide what I wanted to do for my Gold Award project (one of Girl Scouts most prestigious awards), I knew that I wanted to do something to share my love of math and science... What helped me the most with earning my Gold Award were the team building experiences that I had through Girl Scouts. I had an opportunity to learn about leadership and eventually take the lead. I also had to go outside of my comfort zone while working on my Gold Award, which helped me push my boundaries. I use these skills at work by asserting myself with a team to make sure that GRAIL was ready to go to the moon. On September 8th, I sat in front of a monitor in the Mission Control Center as the rocket counted down to take GRAIL to the moon."

Do you have a similar experience with Emily? How has Girl Scouting helped you in life?

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